Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
House Passes Bill To Ease Insurance Requirements For Employers Hiring Veterans
On the new Congress' first day, the House unanimously approved Republican legislation Tuesday making it easier for smaller companies to avoid providing health care coverage to their workers by hiring veterans. That 2010 law is phasing in a requirement that companies with more than 50 full-time workers provide medical coverage for their workers. The House bill, sponsored by Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Ill., would exempt from that threshold veterans who already get health care from the Veterans Affairs Department or the military. Supporters say the measure would encourage employers to hire veterans. That's a goal backed by members of both parties, even as federal figures show unemployment among Iraq and Afghanistan veterans dropped from 9.9 percent in November 2013 to 5.7 percent last November. (Fram, 1/6)
The House passed legislation Tuesday to exempt veterans who have health insurance through the Defense or Veterans Affairs departments from ObamaCare's employer mandate. Members voted overwhelmingly in favor of the measure, the first House bill on the floor in the new Congress, by 412-0. The bill marks the first ObamaCare-related vote of the new Congress, after more than 50 in the last four years. ... Incoming House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said the existing statute was redundant and possibly limited opportunities for veterans trying to find jobs after serving overseas. Businesses have an incentive to turn away veterans, not because they don't want to hire them but because it's too expensive to hire them. This is serving as a penalty to hiring our nation's veterans," Ryan said. (Marcos, 12/6)
In other action from the House of Representatives -
Other changes were more partisan. One new rule allows the House to overturn recommendations of an independent panel created by the Affordable Care Act to trim Medicare costs. Another makes it more difficult to shift Social Security money between the program鈥檚 different trust funds, increasing the likelihood that deep cuts to disabled workers and their families will be made as the Disability Insurance Trust Fund nears depletion in 2016. That quickly drew condemnation from AARP, the powerful lobby for retired people. (Weisman, 1/6)
